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Imprint
Forest utilisation and rural livelihoods in Nepal
Project
Project code: TI-WF-08-PID495
Contract period: 01.01.2014
- 31.12.2016
Purpose of research: Applied research
People conducting subsistence oriented livelihood strategies are usually dependent on forest resources. Why do they use the forest resource more or less intensive? How can they overcome this forest dependency?
Dependency on forest resources in rural areas is often argued to be the main driver for small-scale deforestation and forest degradation. Here, the availability and interrelations between natural, human, physical, financial and social resources influence the utilisation behaviour.
The objective of the study is to determine the influences on forest resource utilisation behaviour by those people who are on the one hand affected by forest loss and degradation, and on the other hand impact the resource themselves.
From the influencing factors on forest utilisation intensities of rural households, information should be deduced for policy advice on instruments for fight of deforestation, degradation and poverty.
First, we categorised internal and external data from the household survey in accordance with the five livelihood capitals (natural, human, physical, financial and social resources in accordance with the `sustainable livelihoods framework'), and described causal relationships to forest utilisation. We empirically tested these potential influences on the intensity of forest utilisation, and identified empirically significant influences on the utilisation intensity of forest products, of firewood and tree fodder.
The study is based on data that we recorded from 358 households from eight participatory forest user groups in the Chitwan district in southern Nepal. The data were collected through a household survey.
The empirical data analysis we carried out using variance analysis and multiple linear regression analysis.
The results confirm an overall dependence of the examined households on the forest resource, which is confirmed by their subsistence-oriented livelihood strategies. The availability of all five livelihood resources (natural, human, physical, financial and social resources) for the household is of importance here. Remote households, which have the greatest access to the forest resource in combination with the least access to alternatives, use the forest most intense. They are mainly influenced by external parameters (natural and social resources). The availability of direct forest product substitutes, either generated from subsistence economy (physical resources) or affordable on the market (financial resources), has proven to be the most influential factor for the use of all forest products and for the use of fuelwood from the forest. The collection of tree fodder, however, is determined by the demand of the livestock and the allocation of labor (human resources). Poverty in terms of household income shows no significant influence on the forest utilisation intensity. The studied households have a low income, like almost all in Nepal, so that higher relative income does not exempt them from forest dependency. The forest dependency is rather influenced by demand and availability of substitutes. It can be concluded that forest utilisation intensity can be reduced by rural subsistence-dependent households in the first place if forest product substitutes be made available, and not by a purely financial support.
Section overview
Subjects
- Silviculture
- Agricultural Sociology
Framework programme
Funding programme
Excutive institution
Institute of International Forestry and Forest Economics (TI-IW)
